On Wednesday the 20th me and Sofi and Hali got in the car after work and drove to the cabin to get a head start on the 7th Annual GREAT CANADIAN CABIN PARTY! When we got there Brad and Tyler had already arrived and were drinking and trying to cook food on the BBQ in the dark by the light of Tyler's cell phone. We got set up and enjoyed some fine brews before everyone turned in one by one before 2AM.
On the Thursday we got up early and cooked a fantastic breakfast to get the day started right. I went into town around noon for a couple hours to visit with relatives, get supplied, and pick up a birthday cake I had ordered for Bernie and Jerrod, who would be coming out later and whose birthdays we had largely ignored and needed to make up for. It wasn't long after I got back that me, Hali, Tyler, and Brad decided to get in a round of golf. It was quite possibly the most perfect day of golf I've ever had. The temperature was around 25 degrees, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and there was pretty much nobody behind us so we had the most leisurely round of all time - 9 holes in about 3 and a half hours! We got back and the five of us had supper and waited for the first party-goers to arrive. Zab was one of the first to arrive, and Blair and Kyla showed up not long after. We stayed up drinking by the fire and listening to tunes until well after dark.
Friday was another great day, albeit the wind and the clouds put a little bit of a damper on the festivities. We had another tremendous breakfast and then most of the rest of the day was spent indoors playing cards or outside staying close to the cabin. My ex-roommate Marco came out for a few hours in the afternoon to visit which was very cool of him:
Brad, Me, and Marco
Most of the rest of the crew showed up after supper on Friday, including Steff, Jen, Holly, Ryan, Azure-Dee, and Jerrod and his new g/f Dara. Jerrod also brought along his newest creation, the new Great Canadian Cabin Party golf tournament trophy, which we have yet to name:
The Great Canadian Classic Championship Trophy
We cranked up the tunes and cranked up the alcohol consumption on Friday night and a good time was had by all. By the time everybody was in the sack it was after 3AM which was pretty amazing considering the long day that everybody had. Props to Jay for supplying me copious amounts of the new Great Western Brewing Company Pilsner!
Saturday was the day of the newly-christened 3rd Annual Great Canadian Classic golf tournament, so everyone was up early. We had breakfast and then posed for this photo before we all piled into the vehicles to make it to the course for our 11:50AM tee time:
The Great Canadian Classic Champion (Jerrod - left) and Challengers
It was another amazing day of golf. It was pretty windy, which wasn't good, but we were stuck behind a huge backlog of golfers so the day went nice and slow. A few of us didn't hit that great but it didn't stop us from having the time of our lives. In the end, it came down to three golfers with tie scores: Zab, Brad, and Jerrod (2004's tournament champion). There were a number of groups in a family reunion behind us that quit golfing a short time earlier so there was nobody behind us - a perfect opportunity for a playoff round! The three finalists walked 150 yards back down the fairway and started the 1st playoff round. Zab hit off the green but Brad and Jerrod were neck and neck, and tied again after Brad made a fantastic long putt! Back down the fairway the two warriors walked to shoot again in the 2nd round of the playoff. The rest of us sat down on the green to watch as Brad duffed his first shot only 20 yards ahead of where he was standing. That was enough to give Jerrod the edge as Jerrod was crowned the tournament champion once again!
The 9th Hole after the 2-round playoff
We had almost three hours on the golf course again so it was time to head back to the cabin for some lunch. Bernie and Jae finally showed up and many of us decided to take advantage of the great weather and head to the beach. Bernie and I had great fun making fun of Brad by throwing mud at him, but eventually we called a cease-fire and Brad and I had our own makeshift football season in the water. It was exhausting! Everyone went back to the cabin where we enjoyed some more great food and brews. Some of us made the mistake of watching the Rider game, which was pretty much the most embarrassing display of "football" I have ever seen in my life. After the awful game and the incredibly busy day we all had, it was hard to keep motivated to stay awake. We all went to bed fairly early that night, a sign that our age is catching up with us!
On Sunday morning most folks were up super early. Zab and Blair and Kyla had left before I even got up. We made another great breakfast and were done cleaning pretty much in record time. Thanks to everybody pitching in the cabin was cleaner than when we got there! Most folks got away before noon, but me and Sofi and Hali stopped in Maple Creek for a while visiting the grandparents before finally heading for home around 2:30pm. While we had a great time, I was pretty sad that the cabin party was over for another year :(
Work last week was pretty crazy busy and a tough week to get through after a bit of time off, but I survived. On Friday my parents picked me and Sofi up and we went right back to the cabin for the weekend. The drive was pretty good, because the Rider game was on the radio, but as usual they blew it so it wasn't all good. Hali and her new man Clayton came up on Saturday and then most of my family in Maple Creek came to the cabin on Sunday to celebrate Hali and I's respective birthdays this month, so it was a pretty full house:
Me and Hali's birthday supper
We had fantastic weather the whole weekend, including 35C in the shade on Sunday with not a cloud in the sky. It was great weather to watch the annual run-swim-bike-canoe race that is the Hillbilly Hustle:
The crowd gathered to watch the 2005 Cypress Hills Hillbilly Hustle
After it got dark that night Sofi and I paddled out to the middle of the lake to watch the fireworks, which were postponed from earlier in the month due to rain. Except for the idiots throwing rocks at us in the canoe, the view was perfect and super cool.
We came back to Regina late this afternoon after an uneventful drive. You couldn't ask for a better long weekend. I've spent more than half my time over the last week and half at the cabin - life is good.